


The Apathy  and The Urgency

by bluestargirl6 (pressdbtwnpages), pressdbtwnpages



Category: The Office (US)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-11-01
Updated: 2006-11-01
Packaged: 2017-10-15 17:12:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/163024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pressdbtwnpages/pseuds/bluestargirl6, https://archiveofourown.org/users/pressdbtwnpages/pseuds/pressdbtwnpages
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Jim wants to revel in the falling down drunkenness of the rejected.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	The Apathy  and The Urgency

**Author's Note:**

> [](http://sexycereal.livejournal.com/profile)[**sexycereal**](http://sexycereal.livejournal.com/) assured me I wouldn't be slaughtered for writing Jim/Jan, told me this didn't suck and then held my hand as I tried to make it suck even less.

It’s not like he hasn’t had enough to drink at Casino Night. But he wants more than to be bravely buzzed now. He wants to revel in the falling down drunkenness of the rejected.

He thinks he deserves it, really, after what he’s put himself through tonight. Telling Pam that he loves her, kissing her. Jim doesn’t know what he was thinking just knows that he needs to stop thinking immediately.

He pulls into a dingy bar on the main road not too far from his place, incase he might need to not drive home.

He walks in, order on his lips, and is sort of not really surprised to see his bosses boss there. Jan’s moved on from the pink things she was drinking earlier to a tumbler of dark liquor. He sits down next to her and doesn’t say a word except to order scotch. It’s not something he usually drinks, he’s pretty much a beer guy and the occasional gin and tonic, but tonight he just wants… to get blasted, pretty much. Blasted’s his goal.

Jim’s gone through two drinks and he’s working pretty steadily on his third before Jan says anything.

“Hello, Jim.” She sounds exhausted, like she is just about fed up with Dunder Miflin Scranton. He can’t honestly blame her.

“Jan. Hi.”

“Have fun at Casino Night?”

He snorts a response that seems to catch Jan’s attention.

“What happened? You seemed to be doing okay when I left.”

Jim has no desire to talk about it. Really, he wants to pretend that it never happened at all. Edit, undo. Except maybe the kissing.

“Jim?”

He sighs. “I told Pam that I was in love with her.”

In his head he's obsessed with The Kiss, but he's not going to talk about it, least of all with his boss.

“But isn’t she engaged?”

Jim gives Jan a look. He feels like a beaten puppy, and sort of hope that’s conveyed in his expression. Then he downs the rest of his drink and motions for another.

“Sorry,” Jan apologizes as the bartender refreshes their drinks.

“So what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be halfway back to New York by now?” Jim inquires, if they’re being blunt and all.

“I, just…”Jan stammers for awhile and seems to settle on, “I brought an overnight bag.”

“Oh,” Jim’s eyes widen and he’s sure his mouth is comically round.

“He -Michael- just said all of this stuff about my needing to relax and I thought… It’s for the best, anyway. Me and Michael, it’s a terrible idea. It would never work. I don‘t even want it to work.”

Jim doesn’t know what to say to that. He has enough on his mind without getting involved in his bosses love life.  
“I wanted it to work.”

“Have you ever considered that-” Jan starts slowly but Jim cuts her off.

“Stop. Tonight I just want to be wronged and pitiful and drunk. I want to be poor rejected Jim. I’ll worry about fairness and how to fix this tomorrow.”

Jan nods. “Can I join you? Be poor wronged Jan? And not make excuses about how Michael shouldn’t be expected to read my mind and how I don’t even want him? I wanted him tonight, you know?”

“Yeah,” Jim sighs, “I know.”

Jan pats him awkwardly on the shoulder and motions for another drink. “You two always struck me as unusually close.”

“Unusually! You see? Not just friends.”

“No,” Jan agrees thoughtfully, “not just friends.”

“I want to transfer.” Jim blurts. “I want to move to Stamford and forget this whole stupid night.”

“Okay.” Jan agrees amicably and then starts slurring about Stamford and Stanford and the importance of a good education or you’ll end up working at a mid-level paper company. Even with a good education, sometimes. Accidents happen.

He makes a mental note to remind Jan that he is taking the transfer later.

Jim’s not sure how exactly things devolve from there, but they bitched about Dunder Miflin for awhile and then, out of gratitude or friendship or apology or something, they found themselves kissing. Innocent pecks at first, punctuating statements with kisses and then more and more graphic until they found themselves in the bar parking lot with their hands up each other’s shirts.

“My place is close,” Jim tells Jan, dragging his lips away from her mouth. She still, goes rigid. “Just, you can’t drive, and we can walk there. Sleep it off.”

“Right,” Jan agrees. “Sleep.”

Jim never thought he was the kind of guy to sleep with his boss. Never thought he’d be tempted, never put himself in a situation where one thing could lead to another, regardless of how attractive Jan is.

Even as he’s holding her hand, guiding her up his stairs and shhing her, he doesn’t think that they’re going to fall into his bed. Or they will, but to sleep. Or maybe he’ll find enough energy to make it back downstairs and crash on the couch like a gentleman. Maybe.

But then, they’re lying there, laughing, and her shirt’s half open and he’s thrown his sweater and button-down across the room.

Jim’s thinking about how he told her she looked great earlier, how she always looks great, and maybe a tiny part of his mind is picturing what Pam would look like in corporate wear, and then Jan’s on him.

All over him. And he’s drunk and miserable. And she’s willing, which is more than he can say about the other woman occupying his brain, so he just, gives in. Not that it’s much of a chore or that it takes a lot of seducing on Jan’s part.

He wakes up to Jan scrambling around for her clothes.

It’s awkward. But they are in very convinced agreement that it was just sex and they think each other are really cool people. It was a one time thing and nothing needs to be awkward.

Jim reminds Jan that he still really really wants to transfer the hell out of Scranton and she tells him his new job starts Monday.

Then they walk back to the bar to retrieve their respective cars and Jan drives off to New York and Jim drives back to his place, gets back into bed and nurses one hell of a hangover until afternoon and then he starts packing for Stamford.

Jim and Jan don’t see each other again until the conference in Philadelphia and everything is fine.


End file.
